The Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocala Police Department have received reports of scammers posing as a sheriff’s sergeant demanding money.
Area residents have reported receiving calls from someone identifying themselves as Sgt. Paul Bloom, who is the director of the sheriff’s office’s public information office. Residents said they were told that they’d be arrested if they didn’t pay their unpaid fines.
“This is a scam! That is definitely not how we operate!” the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page. “We would not have Sgt. Bloom or any of our deputies call you to have you pay a fine over the phone.”
Anyone who receives one of the scam calls should avoid giving out personal information and hang up immediately.